Teenage heroes and evil deviants: sexuality and history in JRPGs

Abstract

Video games often incorporate discourses, ideologies, and social relationships found in the social contexts in which these media forms are produced. This article explores the specific connections between the historical forms of understanding masculinity and male sexuality in Japan and the representation of male same-sex desire and homosocial relations in Japanese Role Playing Games (JRPGs). In doing so, this paper offers an analysis of Japanese male gender and sexual norms to then show how JRPGs tend to construct their narratives and characters, both heroes and villains, around these norms.